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I'd be fully on board with signing Lucroy for a shorter term deal to see if he can bounce back and I completely agree with your line of thinking. The one question I have is what will Lucroy think of the situation. I look back at when he was dealt to the Indians and he blocked the trade due to having uncertainty regarding the catcher position in 2017. Will he see Alfaro as an immediate threat to cut into his playing time? If that's the case, does he choose to sign somewhere he is almost guaranteed to play because there are no catching prospects or veterans on the roster.

It occurs to me... if Jonathan Lucroy's market is slow to develop, the Phillies could look into signing him. That would push Alfaro into a backup/trade bait position for 2018. Lucroy's offense devolved into Francisco Cervelli this year, but I have to imagine he'll bounce back next year.

I don't see any reason why Lucroy and Alfaro can't co-exist on the same roster. Even if a Lucroy investment backfires, that just opens the door for Alfaro. Best case scenario, you get something like the Dodgers have with Grandal and Barnes. I'm pretty sure Knapp still has options, and Rupp's spot on the roster was always somewhat in question.

Lucroy will probably be looking at a wide range of offers. It'll be interesting to see if he prefers a long contract with a low-ish AAV or a single year deal with a chance to re-establish himself as a star.

I understand that we need a veteran C, but I kind of wanted to see what Knapp can do as well,isnīt anybody curious about it?

I personally think Lucroy's market will still be huge and think he shoots for at least a 4 year deal (most likely gets it too) considering his age. I don't think the Phillies will or should be in his market.

Originally Posted by Jack of Blades

I don't consider Brand New indie. I consider them ****ing awesome and don't belong to a genre.

I suppose we'll see. Clubs tend to be very wary of poor defensive catchers. Players with his defensive reputation (see last 2 seasons) don't get multi-year deals. Some team could decide that he'll be worth it for marketing purposes.

The Phillies seem well positioned to be involved since their existing catchers are similarly mediocre defensively.

Now writing for FanGraphs, RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, and The Fake Baseball